But that also meant this mission could be declared a failure, because they might end up losing six or seven hundred Ninja.
"No, we have to hold on." Mitokado Homura flashed through Hand Seals, Summoning a massive wave of Kunai that shot toward the surrounding Hidden Mist Ninja.
He didn't want to abandon so many Ninja here.
Let alone that most of the seven hundred Ninja here were Chunin—even if it were seven hundred qualified Genin, raising them would still consume a lot of effort.
Konoha was already fighting on multiple fronts and short on manpower; he couldn't give up so easily.
Even though Mitokado Homura had a tenacious fighting will, that still wasn't enough to change the battle.
He and Karatachi Yagura could only be considered evenly matched; after being injured he was even slightly inferior to Karatachi Yagura, and Karatachi Yagura's elites were far more numerous than Mitokado Homura's side.
The Konoha Ninja on the battlefield were steadily decreasing, and Mitokado Homura's heart was wavering more and more.
It wasn't that he feared death, but if he didn't choose to sacrifice most of them to break out, then everyone might die here.
"Konoha Dragon God!"
Just as Mitokado Homura was preparing to fight to the death and break through, a green dragon burst through the Hidden Mist's encirclement, a powerful storm sweeping up and tearing apart the Hidden Mist Ninja.
Along with it came a large number of Ninja wearing Konoha Ninja uniforms.
Joy flashed across Mitokado Homura's face and he hurriedly shouted, "Jonin Chen, let's break out together, don't get bogged down in battle!"
The Hidden Mist's offensive was fiercer than he had imagined.
Now he was badly wounded, and his troops had taken heavy losses; this was not the time to have a decisive battle with the Hidden Mist.
"If only he had split his forces into three groups." Karatachi Yagura showed a regretful expression.
If one-third fewer Konoha Ninja Squad had come, then he could have wiped out Teacher Chen's Ninja Squad along with them.
"Pursue! Eliminate as many Konoha Ninja as possible!" Karatachi Yagura ordered.
Keeping them all here wasn't realistic, but taking out another chunk of Konoha's strength was still doable.
The two units chased and fled all the way until the Konoha Ninja Squad reached the Central North Region. Only then did Karatachi Yagura give up the pursuit; if he kept going, he might end up throwing his own life in, after all this was the Land of Fire and Konoha was fighting on home turf.
Karatachi Yagura couldn't wait to send the news of his great victory back to The Hidden Mist Village.
After the Third Mizukage learned of Karatachi Yagura's battle results, he first convened a meeting to issue commendations, then sent another six hundred Hidden Mist Ninja to the Land of Waves.
The situation was too favorable; the Third Mizukage wanted to see if this advantage could be maintained. If it could, then they could increase their investment and finish their war objectives in one go.
The victorious Hidden Mist were overjoyed, while on the other side, Konoha, which had just suffered defeat, was in a far grimmer mood.
Konoha Hospital.
In a high‑level ward, Mitokado Homura lay on the bed, his face full of guilt.
Utatane Koharu sat on the bed beside Mitokado Homura's, wanting to speak but stopping herself.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood by the window, ceaselessly puffing out smoke.
A strange silence permeated the entire ward.
"Honoo actually lost… and nearly three hundred Ninja were killed, more than five hundred Ninja wounded…" Sarutobi Hiruzen recalled the battle damage report, his brows tightly furrowed.
This was beyond his expectations. Based on Mitokado Homura's ability, even if he couldn't quickly wipe out the Hidden Mist, he should at least have been able to steadily gain the upper hand and then defeat them step by step.
He hadn't expected such a disastrous report to suddenly come in—this was home‑ground fighting.
"Has it just been too long since he's been on the battlefield? But it shouldn't be this bad." Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at the Mitokado Homura lying on the bed, puzzled in his heart.
In the past, casualties of this level actually wouldn't have counted for much—only a bit over three hundred Ninja dead, and among the five hundred wounded, the proportion of severe injuries wasn't high.
But Konoha was currently at a critical stage, not only fiercely engaged with the Hidden Cloud, but also watched covetously by the Hidden Rock at the side.
Under these circumstances, suddenly suffering a defeat like this could trigger a chain reaction.
"Sorry to have let you down." Mitokado Homura took the initiative to break the silence.
He'd lost, so he would take the blame standing upright; he wasn't the type to make up thousands of excuses to argue for himself.
"Honoo, was there some hidden powerhouse among the Hidden Mist Ninja Squad this time?" Utatane Koharu couldn't help asking.
"No, it was my own decision‑making errors that led to the defeat. In terms of overall strength, my troops should actually have been stronger." Mitokado Homura shook his head and answered.
"This…" Utatane Koharu couldn't say anything more.
Since Mitokado Homura himself put it that way, there was no need for her to cover for him.
"Let Mokgetsu go. Right now, he's the most suitable choice in the village." Mitokado Homura looked toward Sarutobi Hiruzen and said.
Although Konoha still had Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade's kill efficiency on the battlefield was far inferior to Mokgetsu's, so she wasn't the appropriate choice.
And right now Tsunade herself was also quite resistant to going to the front lines.
"That's what I was thinking too." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded.
He had wanted to give Mokgetsu more time for Cultivation, but plans couldn't keep up with changes.
If Mokgetsu didn't go, then the only options were to transfer Jiraiya back, or for Sarutobi Hiruzen to personally take the field.
Transferring Jiraiya back would just be robbing Peter to pay Paul and might provoke the Hidden Rock into stirring up trouble.
And as Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was tied to everything; he couldn't act rashly, so it could only be Mokgetsu.
After all, this mission was still relatively safe: it was domestic home‑ground fighting, and the opponent wasn't some ridiculously powerful monster.
If the opponent were someone on the level of the Third Tsuchikage or the Third Raikage, Sarutobi Hiruzen would choose to keep Mokgetsu in Konoha and go to the front himself.
Facing experts of that caliber carried no small risk; he couldn't let Mokgetsu, who had a chance to reach the First Hokage's heights, take that gamble.
...
Land of Earth, The Hidden Rock Village.
"Rejected again. Looks like it's a fundamental issue." Looking at the information sent back by Kitsuchi, Onoki showed a regretful expression.
Forming a joint Ninja Squad with the Ninja Sect to deter Konoha in the Land of Rain was impossible—unless Onoki first beat down the Ninja forces of the Land of Rain.
But that would be pointless and would instead needlessly earn him another enemy.
Just then, a rather urgent knocking sounded from outside the door.
"Come in."
The Hidden Rock Anbu strode into the office and quickly said, "Third Lord, we have important war intel regarding Konoha!"
Onoki immediately perked up and picked up the intel the Anbu had delivered, scanning through it rapidly.
"The Hidden Mist defeated the Konoha Ninja Squad led by Mitokado Homura in the Land of Fire." Onoki was slightly surprised.
Defeating a Konoha Ninja Squad outside the Land of Fire, breaking through the Land of Fire's defense line, defeating a Konoha Ninja Squad inside the Land of Fire—how much those first two things were worth was debatable, but the last one definitely carried the most weight.
And the Hidden Mist hadn't beaten some Ordinary Ninja Squad; it was a Ninja Squad personally led by Mitokado Homura, a member of Konoha's high command.
"Maybe Konoha isn't as strong as I imagined." Onoki fell into thought.
As a professional troublemaker, with the Land of Fire this lively right now, it would be a pity not to get involved.
"Notify the high‑ups to assemble in the conference room." Onoki ordered the Hidden Rock Anbu.
He was inclined to send troops, but this wasn't something he could decide alone; they had to hold a meeting first.
When the latest intel on the Land of Fire was laid out before the Hidden Rock leadership, they all showed expressions similar to what Onoki had just had.
"We've suffered quite a few losses at Konoha's hands since the war started; we can't just let it go. I think we should seize this chance to send troops." Hidden Rock elder Shigeaki proposed.
"I think we can give it a try." Onoki stated his position directly.
Immediately after, squad leader Hui of the Hidden Rock Jonin also expressed his support.
In the end, the high‑level meeting unanimously passed the resolution to dispatch a Ninja Squad against Konoha.
As for the choice of commander for the Ninja Squad, after some discussion they still decided to have Rekiseki, captain of the Hidden Rock Demolition Squad, take the position.
The blame for the last defeat lay mainly with the deceased Iwakura and the deserter Roshi; Rekiseki, having been wounded and returned early to the village to recuperate, had essentially escaped unscathed.
Of course, the main reason was that there really weren't any better candidates—some lacked seniority, others lacked strength.
PS: It's still 8k today, begging for monthly tickets…